So you came to the point when you need to find a reliable partner to promote your business. How to avoid mistakes when choosing a contractor? Let’s look at 10 key points to pay attention to while choosing a marketing agency.
No. 1. "CONTRACTOR - CLIENT" INTERACTIONS
The first impression is always right. Pay attention to how quickly agency employees respond to your requests, how quickly you receive information, how negotiations are conducted.
For example, if you left a request on the site and are already tired of waiting for someone to contact you or the manager discussing possible cooperation with you suddenly disappeared somewhere, this is a reason to be on the alert.
Also, do not believe the unsupported promises of a quick result.
A competent specialist will first conduct a preliminary analysis of your business and website, and only then will be able to offer a promotion strategy, a work plan and its cost, and an approximate
period for achieving the desired result.
No. 2. CORPORATE WEBSITE
For a professional marketing agency, it’s a must to have a corporate website that is attractive, convenient, informative, adaptive, etc.
If this is not the case, we can certainly conclude that specialists who are not able to make customers interested in their services will not be able to help you attract new customers either.
No. 3. EXPERIENCE (PORTFOLIO, CASES, REVIEWS, AWARDS)
A successful marketing agency must have achievements that potential clients can see on the website.
Check the portfolio, look through successful cases, so you can understand whether you are satisfied with the approach to the tasks set, the effectiveness of the strategy, and interaction with the client.
Also, certificates, awards, places in various ratings, positive reviews testify to the professionalism of the agency.
No. 4. THOROUGH STUDY OF THE CLIENT'S BUSINESS, EXPERIENCE IN YOUR NICHE
A marketing agency needs to have a good understanding of the specifics of the client’s business to develop an effective promotion strategy.
A responsible contractor will have a lot of questions for you, because he must study your business carefully.
Not a must, but it would be very nice if the agency has cases of successful promotion of companies from your niche.
No. 5. EXPERTISE
Pay attention to the company’s blog and the quality of the materials posted in it. Informative, up-to-date expert articles on specialized and related topics are a good sign that you are dealing with professionals.
The agency’s expertise can also be confirmed by participation in various specialized events, master classes, webinars, etc.
No. 6. COMPLEX APPROACH
Many agencies work in specific areas: SEO-promotion, SMM, PPC. But the reality is that the best result will be achieved only with a complex approach.
Therefore, you should choose an agency that can work on your promotion in a comprehensive way: positively influence on the positions in organic extradition, traffic, behavioral factors, manage reputation, etc.
No. 7. ISSUE PRICE
Fast and cheap is not qualitatively and efficiently. Complex promotion is a long process that involves many directions, requires the involvement of different specialists, so the promise of instant cheap results is a clear sign of
unprofessionalism.
No. 8. EFFECTIVENESS EVALUATION
To assess the effectiveness of advertising and promotion there are many different indicators (KPI) on reach, traffic, advertising channels, behavioral factors, targeted actions, etc.
Without competent analytics and evaluation of marketing efficiency, it’s impossible to achieve the desired results and develop the company.
You should discuss with the agency in advance how exactly they’re going to monitor performance at each stage.
No. 9. REPORTING
An agency should provide you with detailed weekly or monthly performance reports including information about the list of activities, traffic changes, conversion and other significant indicators to achieve the set goals.
Also provide a work plan for the next reporting period as detailed reporting will help to compare results after certain activities with results of previous periods.
Another important point in reporting is the credibility of the results in numbers. Sometimes, when you analyze the report marketing agency sent you and everything is alright there, but your sales are not, you start to doubt in the reality of the presented numbers.
Such software as Google AdWords, Facebook Ads Manager, VC, MyTarge offers a convenient option of reporting on all advertising channels.
In this case, the numbers will be collected automatically from your advertising channels without the participation of a person, which means that now you can trust the numbers, because they are collected from the original sources.
- – reports are formed daily and you are not dependent on the marketer;
- – reports are available from any point. It is an online service;
- – you can set up alerts for certain events, for example, the cost of a click or lead exceeded X dollars, and you will receive a corresponding message in the Chat Telegram.
- – the system will tell you which channel is not effective and you can discuss the reasons for this with your marketer;
- – it’s convenient to watch the costs of each advertising channel;
- – services provide you with analysis of performance indicators and correct management decisions.
No. 10. COOPERATION UNDER AN AGREEMENT
Professionals always work according to the contract, moreover a responsible contractor specifies with the customer the amount of work, the timing of its implementation, the budget in advance, so that unpleasant surprises won’t arise in the process of cooperation.
Choosing a digital marketing agency is a responsible task, and it is necessary to start with the setting of objectives to discuss with the contractor and analyze information.
